On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dove into a roiling debate about insider trading.
She defended the ability of sitting U.S. congressmembers to trade stocks, much to the anger of oversight groups and even the far-left pundits aligned with her party.
At Wednesday’s’ press conference, one reporter asked, “Insider just did five months of investigations, finding that 49 members of Congress and 182 senior congressional staffers have violated the STOCK Act, that insider trading block. Should members of Congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in Congress?”
“No,” Pelosi responded. “Because this is a free market. We have a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that.”
She went on to discuss the STOCK Act, “We have a responsibility to report on the stock. I’m not familiar with that five-month review, but if the people aren’t reporting, they should be.”
Take a look —
REPORTER: "Should members of congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in congress?"
PELOSI: "No…We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that." pic.twitter.com/2SNqSCwFEU
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 15, 2021
On Monday, Insider reported the shocking results of its five-month investigation into lawmakers’ personal finances.
Insider found:
- 49 members of Congress and 182 senior-level congressional staffers who have violated a federal conflicts-of-interest law.
- Nearly 75 federal lawmakers who held stocks in COVID-19 vaccine makers Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or Pfizer in 2020, with many of them buying or selling these stocks in the early weeks of the pandemic.
- 15 lawmakers tasked with shaping US defense policy that actively invest in military contractors.
More than a dozen environmentally-minded Democrats who invest in fossil fuel companies or other corporations with concerning environmental track records.- Members who regularly chide “the media” but personally pour their money into at least one of the nation’s largest news media or social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter, Comcast, Disney, and the New York Times Co.
- 16 lawmakers who buy and hold tobacco company stock, including some who have publicly fought smoking.
- Senators, House members, and top Capitol Hill staffers who will help decide whether the government regulates cryptocurrency — and are themselves invested in bitcoin and altcoins.
Insider intends to release all the remaining data by Friday.
Speaker Pelosi has faced criticism for the business dealings of her husband, the businessman Paul Pelosi. In June, Paul Pelosi made $4.5 million by trading stock in Google’s parent company, according records obtained by the New York Post.
Speaker Pelosi reported the transaction on time, and so she appears to have played by the rules. She also denies any involvement in her husband’s dealings, according to a statement from her office to the NY Post.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi’s Assistant Speaker Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., has gone under investigation for submitting her stock reports too late.
The Democrats have been debating whether to ban sitting congressmembers from holding stocks. Sen. Kyrsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., proposed the ban due to the risk of corruption.
What do you think?
Should members of Congress be allowed to trade stock?
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I sure do. https://t.co/h5idwpJ47R
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) April 16, 2020
The Horn editorial team